The following series was recorded during the Covid-19 pandemic. All the safety protocols were applied and the guests and crew were tested. SECRETS <i>Our history blends with Hip Hop culture and its four elements.
</i> <i>Formed by different generations of artists who came from the street</i> <i>And nothing builds itself. </i> <i>And this union is what fortifies and keeps Hip Hop alive. </i> THE ESSENCE OF HIP HOP We believe that graffiti in our life served as a portal to learning to move across the city to respect people, to value people to share with them.
Do you think you discovered São Paulo through graffiti? I think I discovered my life through graffiti What'd us graffiti artists be without the city? What'd the city be without graffiti?
The streets are an extension of our souls, right? When they take us off the street, when they take us out of the universe of the trains the universe that revolves around the real graffiti Ask a kid with 80k followers on Instagram who Doze is he doesn't know that he only uses a spray can because this guy made the movie that made you guys paint, that made me understand that you existed for him to come after. The moment Beat Street hit the movie theaters, I was sure regardless of not having a market, a future for graffiti at that moment, I was sure that it was what I wanted.
And from then on, anyway, we are here now, thirty and something years later. HIP HOP SPREADS THROUGHOUT SAO PAULO YOUTH FROM DIFFERENT NEIGHBORHOODS AND ORIGINS COME TOGETHER AND CREATE AN EXPLOSION OF CREATIVITY IN THE STREETS We lived 100% Hip hop, Break, Break, Graffiti, Break and Hip hop We didn't even know what was Hip hop the ones into breakdance were only into that didn't listen to rock, didn't listen to reggae, didn't listen to other things. And this mentality changes as you gain knowledge with other DJs, you know, "You have to hear everything.
" "What do you mean? " I'm from the break, why do I have to hear everything? {\an8}This was more common in the central areas.
{\an8}Because in the hood where I lived, for example, it was altogether There was hippies, headbangers, who were the guys who liked rock who wore only black, the punks, the skinheads that hang out with everyone and the guys who enjoyed funk, break, and this part of rap. When we met you, we saw, "Wait a minute! We're not alone in this spaceship, here at São Bento There are people out there doing the same thing And the guys are skateboarding and are making graffiti at Cambuci "How's that?
" First, there are no skaters in Cambuci. We had never seen anyone skate in Cambuci We said, let's see who these guys are there - Let's beat up these folks. - Exactly, let's see what it is.
But two things caught our attention when we got there: one, the fact that you came from the world of skate of being from another hood, not from our neighborhood And the style. We saw Speto's work and said, "How this guy already has a style? " But you always focused on that, right?
You've never worked with anything other than drawing The point is, I'm the youngest, and my brothers are artists. So since I was little I came with an instruction So we arrive and start to paint from 85 onwards, at the end of the military regime. So our parents always said, "Don't do this.
" When that ends, the feeling in Brazil is that you can be yourself. So let's be ourselves. And you Binho, when you had your first impression, when grafitti caught your attention?
At the time, being a skater, you were already a rebel. And through skate, I started making designs for brands to know a little about Graffiti. that appeared in foreign magazines and things like that At that moment, the graffiti, even didn't know what it was, how it was, the style, story, it already started to infect me.
And at that same moment I've met Speto And then we started to paint, draw, buy books together. . .
I learned a lot from Speto, we learned a lot together And shortly after, two equal persons appeared with a little book, when Speto and I were painting at Lins de Vasconcelos "Holy shit, there's other people who also do this" Unlike everyone else I'm the only one who didn't use to breakdance. I've never breakdanced because I don't have the motor skills But he tried. I was 11 years old, we used to play soccer in the street every day Then you came with "Decoflex" to dance I was very young, I could only go by the door the most I could do was cross the street go to Vitché's house, rang the bell.
. . I sat like this at the gate, waiting for him to come back from work to show a new drawing I had done.
- Your first reference was Vitché? - The first one was Vitché, The 1st graffiti I saw was from Vitché - You were a kid - Actually, the first graffiti I saw it was a piece you all did together, next to his house, "Alpes. " Vitché, what was your first contact with Hip hop?
I was 14 to 15 years old, I think it was in 83 and it was basically for TV videos. I also went to a place in Ibirapuera, where I met Nelsão, the first time I saw him an amazing place called Fantasy. - You went to Fantasy?
- I went there. - We didn't. - You lost!
It was aweosme. And I didn't know how to do anything at that time, I knew how to Moonwalk and a few dance moves, very simple with gloves and those flashy glasses. And that's it.
I like to compare this thing to a shamanic beat the hip hop beat. It's a heartbeat, a beat, a rhythm And "Boom", and you scratch and you try to do something there, draw. .
. This beat that Vitché talks about the tags for me is this beat, it's in my blood. We make letters for those who make graffiti, and you'll be judged, you're either good or wack.
When I think about tags, it gives me shivers. At that time, when everyone was doing letters Vitché had a parallel job to that of painting a white eye with a black outline, and it cried blood. I think the eyes are an ancient thing, the Greeks, the Egyptians, everyone did this "vibe.
" And in there, man, you're here for something. You won't get any from this life So use this moment you are here to do something. And actually, it also creates this self-awareness It's like you started to see better, as if you're cleaning the lens of your third eye The eye comes back, you know?
It was a time that for us, me, Otávio and Vitché, we had a thirst for information We wanted all the information possible, and to share it with people. And then we understood better what was happening in Europe because until then, - Your mother is from Spain, right? - Yes.
And she use to go a lot to Spain, and she brought to us the first graffiti magazines Yeah, my mother brought some magazines. And that was very precious after the books, Spray Can Art and Subway Art that's what was happening in the 90s, the magazines. We were very insecure, wanting to self-affirm, this is normal for youngsters I want to do something, but I don't know what, I don't have information about what it is, we didn't know And you Tinho, who were your first influences?
Before graffiti I was a Marvelmaniac. So much so that, when I met Binho he was also doing a project on the subway - and he had painted a Punisher - A Punisher. And it was really cool, because the Punisher is from Marvel And I was playing soccer on my street, and my friends saw you painting, and they knew I painted They said, "Tinho, there are kids doing graffiti down there.
" Cool, it was the opposite, we went to his area to paint. Then I said, "What do you mean? " Then when I got there, I saw those letters, I said, "Damn, those guys are crazy good!
" And from there, our relationship began. But I remember we were painting on a pillar and Speto was painting on the opposite side. "Let's see what Speto is doing" When we got there, Speto had sandpaper, latex, kerosene, Thinner, brush For us graffiti was spray and letters.
And the guy was sanding, throwing paint The ability to enhance everything it pays off in style. And be naive, be clueless but having potential, this ability to enhance things I think that we looked for something inside us, that made us discover an internal world We used art to get closer and closer to this essence. Each one will arrive in a way, one will write, the other.
. . but it's all an art level Now the DJ's had a good period, between 87 and 97 everyone was a DJ, man.
If you look at it, we get to the 2000s with a lot of nightclubs and Brazil, especially São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. they compared it to Ibiza because it was a party from Monday to Monday. Who remembers that?
- I remember - I remember too And it's interesting for people who lived through the 80s, São Bento, all that, to follow this evolution from that time until today, There are a lot of women nowadays who play but only few female turntablists. And she likes it! Tell us a little about that, why did you specialize in it?
Because in the beginning the male glances were very odd I started playing all over Brazil, it was super fast because there weren't many women, right? When it started to get a little boring, I was playing for a while, and I said, "Why I'm bored? Something is missing.
" Then I started to do performances. Then I said, "I want to have a championship experience. " Then I joined Hip Hop DJ - What is this performance?
- Those maneuvers on the turntables {\an8}TECHNIQUE OF CREATING NEW MUSIC, SOUND EFFECTS, {\an8}USING A MIXER AND TWO OR MORE TURNTABLES So you can create sounds, not just mix, you know? So I wanted to invent new things and in 2004, at Sesc Pompéia Her arrival was important, because when she arrives at Sesc and performs The guys said "Wow, right" And Erick Jay coming, he liked the parties He just eating by the borders But when he arrives, all shy there, doing his thing But like Erick Jay, from the underground began to understand the symbology of Hip hop as a family, let's say, has its problems but also its solutions but he never disowned his story. I started with Brazilian Hip Hop, listening to the radio, listening to Metrô FM, DJ Hum.
. . I listened to KL Jay a lot, you know?
"Wow, I want to know how they do the scratch. " How the record goes back and forth stays in rhythm How is this magic? Then later I saw the guys creating, not limiting the DJ We usually say turntablists make the turntables become instruments Turntablism is the apex of the DJ skills.
Look, it's not just that, there's much more, that's when I said, "Brother. " Then I started to look up the history, the Brazilian DJs who had participated in the DMC Then I saw Jack in the DMC of 96 playing. .
. 97, with the rubber bands, in 96 he played the tambourine I said "Bro, that's crazy" I was addicted to a community radio in Pirituba. And the DJs who use to make the shows, they said, "You're always here enjoying it, why don't you try?
" When I touched the vinyl, I said: "This is what I want for my life. " So It wasn't seeing it, it wasn't being inspired, it was feeling it. Music for me is about feeling.
What makes you train today, you have to be better than someone, create a new thing? What motivates you? I've entered the DMC for the 1st time in 2008, when it resumed, - And I won in 2009.
- Which category do you train? There were 3 categories at DMC: Solo, Battle for Supremacy and Team. In short, explain a little each one.
Team Battle, you can have two to four DJs Battle for supremacy is you against a guy, one and a half minutes, two rounds. And the solo is 6 minutes. Rooney said to me, "Bro, run in only one category, you're spreading yourself too thin".
It's too much to handle. So I said, "Okay! " I took a mirror, put it near the turntables And begin to work that in me.
I watched videos of American DJ's, to check their swag, to help me, because I was shy, and I was ashamed to look at my opponent in the battle. Then I dedicated myself to only one category, and I won. "That's what Rooney was talking about.
" It was in 2016 that you were there. I think I was the first DJ coach. The battle of Santa Cruz was a huge school for me.
It was a milestone for the history of Brazilian Hip hop It was. . .
I use to say that breakdance changed my life. I feel delighted when I see the magic of movement happening in other corporeality. - I do bomb.
- What is a bomb? Ah, I go out bombing the city. I go out making my stamp around.
For me, it was like a challenge too. If I had to run, I wanted to run, If I had to jump walls I wanted to do that We're messengers, right? Everything we do, we carry the message in one way or another.
The journey of women in Brazilian hip hop, which is also a journey of resistance because rap, specially the rap is too sexist. And what place isn't hostile to a woman, right? The street is hostile by day, even worse at night.
THE NATIONAL HIP HOP IS A COLLECTIVE CONSTRUCTION. COUNTLESS PEOPLE PLAYED AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN SHAPING THIS CULTURAL MOVEMENT. THE PEOPLE THAT APPEAR IN THIS SERIES ARE JUST A FEW OF THEM.
WE WOULD LIKE EVERYONE TO FEEL REPRESENTED, AS UNFORTUNATELY IT WAS NOT POSSIBLE TO CALL EVERYONE. AT LEAST FOR NOW. .
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